Bloomberg says the hospitalizations are separate from the outbreak at a private school in Queens.

If they are found to be swine flu they would be the first in the U.S. connected to the outbreak.

The mayor says the hospitalized are a child in the Bronx and an adult in Brooklyn.

The news came as health officials began investigating reports of people with flu symptoms at a special education school and the as the federal Centers for Disease Control confirmed 17 new swine flu cases in the city.

The public school — a few blocks from a Roman Catholic high school where a swine flu outbreak began last week — remained open as Health Department workers carried in boxes of supplies used for nose and throat tests. They did not respond to journalists’ questions.

“We’re just making sure everyone is OK,” said Wayne Lipman, assistant principal at the school, declining to say more.

Teachers’ union officials arrived soon after the health workers with bags full of what appeared to be face masks.

City officials stressed that there were no confirmed cases of swine flu at the special education school. But people were complaining of flu symptoms, and many students were out sick Tuesday.

Tom Ryan’s 15-year-old daughter was there, and he had no plans to pull her out.

“Let’s see what it is first,” said Ryan, a vice president of the Citywide Council on Special Education. “Of course, we’re worried, but there’s no need to panic. (School and health officials) seem to have it in hand.”

New York City has the largest number of swine flu cases in the U.S. — 45, including the 17 cases confirmed Tuesday. City officials had said Monday they expected the number of confirmed cases to rise among students, their relatives and at least one teacher from the Catholic high school, St. Francis Preparatory School.